Since When is Chief Justice Roberts an Expert on the Budget and the Economy?

In his year-end report Chief Justice John Roberts bizarrely complained about the "fiscal cliff" and the national debt, wrongly asserting that:

"“No one seriously doubts that the country’s fiscal ledger has gone awry."

Of course everyone familiar with budget data knows that the reason that deficit exploded was the economic downturn caused by the collapse of the housing bubble. It would have been appropriate for the NYT to present the views of an economic expert who could have pointed out that Justice Roberts clearly does not understand the economy or the budget.